Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Magico-Religion of Lady Lavona

I consider myself a Pagan Reconstructionist riding a wave of Heretical Gnosis. By comparative study, I've reduced the world’s various religions and spiritual paths to their essence. I have no solid belief system and my spiritual ideologies are constantly evolving. I'm free from the spiritual bondage that is dogma. My focus is on soul development, becoming one with the BELOVED, leading to the attainment of Divine Consciousness. I've found balance in the Wisdom of Nature and the Gnosis of the Universe. 'As Above So Below, also known as the law of the Macrocosm/Microcosm which is essentially non-dual.

Through Magick I've found a way to organize magical theories and spiritual ideologies. My practice can best be described as Magico-Religious. I employ traditional American Folk Magick and Medicine; Hexcraft rooted in Euro-American Witchcraft, Santeria, Pow-wow, Hoodoo, Gypsy and Granny Magicks. My foundation is laid in the Wheel of the Year, the annual cycle of the Earth's seasons: eight festivals throughout the year referred to as Sabbats. Magico-Religious Power is the the spiritual force called Mana, commonly interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed", as well as the substance of which souls are made. Mana is in people, animals, plants and objects. The entire universe is alive and interconnected, everything possesses a personality and individual spirit/soul/force. Shamans and Witches have a deep relationship with Nature. Shamanic traditions are especially valuable in a time of crisis between humanity and nature. If we can learn to rediscover the way of the shaman, it may make a critical impact on how we live. Naturalist and Ecologists might study the relationships of living things to their environment differently. How we live individually and collectively can and will effect the future of the Earth and it's inhabitants.

Furthermore, I'm really moved by the "school of thought" that is Green Hermeticism. Not only does it resonate with my own belief that humanity needs to get back to the Esoteric roots of Medicine, this movement has started to reestablish a bridge between Alchemy and Ecology.

"it’s not clear whether you can make a leap or bridge from a scientific mentality to a Hermetic one; that is, whether conventional science can somehow become Hermetic, or whether—this not being possible—we are going to have to create a new science-art-spirituality working out of alchemy and Hermeticism on their own terms, thus renewing and re-imagining for our time the ancient sacred science of nature. In other words, perhaps it is in the nature of the project that the bridge will have to be built from Hermeticism to a new kind of science rather than from conventional science to Hermeticism."

The Alchemists' search for the Philosopher's Stone took a turn for the worse in Ancient Egypt when materialists developed the art of synthetic "wet" chemistry. Processes including but not limited to; extracting metal from their ores, making pottery and glazes, fermenting beer and wine, making pigments for cosmetics and painting, extracting chemicals from plants for medicine and perfume, making cheese, dying cloth, tanning leather, rendering fat into soap, making glass, and making alloys like bronze. By the seventeenth century, Occultist and Philosopher of Nature, Paracelsus, pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals for medicine. This was contrary to his hermetical views that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man and Nature. Since then, a materialistic, capitalistic, anti-ecological, anti-Hermetic war was waged against humanity and the planet Earth. We've seen a rapid decline of spirituality and morality. And in opposition to this, a Romantic Nihilist movement. We are Green Anarchists and Anarcho-Communists. Hopefully at the end of this war, Holistic Dualists.

"The alchemists are people of prayer. They are dedicated selflessly to the transformation and redemption of society, the individual, and the earth itself."

3 comments:

I just read your post and found myself agreeing with almost everything you said. I myself am on a self discovery of belief and ultimate beings. Do you have any advice on where to start so I can come to some sort of religion of my own?

beautiful blog and i appreciate your topic. I'm a sort of alchemist fan and i'm looking for some answers into the old books and old chemistry. I recommend to you the real story of Nicolas Flamel, a famous french alchemist. Be free to check my blog sometimes (sorry it's in french language) : www.professeurboilot.com good luck and "bravo"